I'm a bit surprised to see the somewhat tepid 4-star reviews of this great film, one of my all-time favorite movies (others being Godfather I&II, Dr. Strangelove, Notting Hill, The Player, Pulp Fiction).
The acting, the plot, the direction, and the setting is marvelous. I don't even particularly like Lake Como (it's easily my least favorite destination in Italy) but I love this film!
If nothing else, the movie should be remembered for the classic line "but Como is so BORING!"
Redgrave Shines in a Rare Comic Role
I couldn't have picked Vanessa Redgrave out of a lineup the first time I saw this movie a few years ago. Now, of course, I own the DVD, and have collected an impressive pile of her other films, too (including one of my very favorites of all time, *Mrs. Dalloway*). This movie was, in other words, part of my awakening to Ms. Redgrave, to other British actors, and to films that showcase beautiful places, nuanced characters, and great performances rather than special effects and stock plot twists.
It's hard to explain what makes this film so delightful, though, considering that there is shockingly little plot and dramatic structure even for a so-called "art film." Indeed, *A Room With A View* quickly begins to seem like *The Terminator* by comparison, and *A Month By The Lake* might easily have turned into the most boring two hours one ever spent.
Luckily, *A Month By the Lake* has Vanessa Redgrave and an almost equally wonderful supporting cast. Redgrave deftly holds the film together with little more than a few hilarious, goofball facial expressions; Uma Thurman plays off this and has lots of campy fun, too.
Four very enthusiastic stars.
A Month worthed spending with Vanessa Redgrave by The Lake.
I must say that the lovely Lake Como and the countryside scenery of Italy in this 1930's romantic comedy was quite pleasing. Especially the movie features a fine English Actress like Vanessa Redgrave who was making me compare her to Maggie Smith In My House in Umbria.Redgrave's role here is not as deep as Smith's, and she had a fabulous time in this funny and touching little period piece. She carried the film on her own, making Uma Thurman's minimal screen time even more insignificant. That's because her role allowed her to show her range from funny to dramatic moments, and she did a fine job at making performance work.
Basically, this is a movie about an English woman named Ms. Bentley(Redgrave)'s one month vacation by the Lake Como in Italy, and how she dazzled a few Italy boys and found love when she met Major(Edward Fox). She also had to put up with an imature young American woman(Thurman) as they clashed in many ways. Thurman had some good moments in this film, but most of time she's annoying, and gets upstaged by Redgrave effortlessly. I guess she needed to find a better period role to play, something even better than Vatel.
Falling neatly into the Enchanted April and Under the Tuscan Sun category, the made-for-HBO My House in Umbria boasts lovely Italian vistas and comforting Englishness. But it begins with a note of violence: on a train rolling through the sunny countryside, a terrorist bomb detonates, killing a handful of passengers. The strangers that survive recuperate at the villa of an eccentric but kindly romance novelist, also a survivor of the blast. She's played by Maggie Smith, who bustles through the role with a pleasing mix of gin and daffodils. Chris Cooper is an uptight American who comes to the villa to pick up his orphaned niece and bristles at the bohemian atmosphere. Director Richard Loncraine maintains the melancholy mood amidst the sun-dappled gardens of Umbria, but... More Info about this DVD Director(s): Richard Loncraine DVD Release Date: Released the 25 November 2003 Usually ships in 24 hours
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In filming this semi-autobiographical account of life in Italy during the dawn of World War II, director Franco Zeffirelli imbues Tea with Mussolini with the mixed blessings of fond reminiscence. It's a warmly inviting film, as impeccable as any Merchant-Ivory production, but like a hazy memory it's uncertain in its narrative intentions. And yet with an exceptional cast to compensate, the film's as engaging as it is inconsequential.
Zeffirelli's alter ego is Luca (Charlie Lucas in youth; Baird Wallace as a teenager), who is raised in Florence by Mary (Joan Plowright), the middle-aged secretary of his absentee father. Luca lives among a loose band of British and American women, nicknamed "Il Scorpioni" for their stinging wit in the shadows of Mussolini's thuggish dictatorship.... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Cher - Judi Dench - Joan Plowright - Maggie Smith Director(s): Franco Zeffirelli DVD Release Date: Released the 15 May 2001 Usually ships in 24 hours
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In this quaint Irish comedy about a remote town run by the large number of widows, who are led by the monarchical Mrs. Counihan (Joan Plowright), Natasha Richardson is a newly arrived English widow who brings sex appeal and the possibility of mischief when she starts courting Counihan's befuddled son (Adrian Dunbar). This sets in motion a mystery akin to an Agatha Christie tale, led by suspicious Mia Farrow. The setup is fine and the acting first-rate, but the final act forces its hand far too soon. What starts off as an accessible film turns into a prize only for those who liked Enchanted April and similar movies. --Doug ThomasMore Info about this DVD Actor(s): Mia Farrow - Joan Plowright - Natasha Richardson Director(s): John Irvin DVD Release Date: Released the 19 April 2005 Usually ships in 24 hours
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The prestigious filmmaking trio of producer Ismail Merchant, director James Ivory, and screenwriter Ruth Prawer Jhabvala had made other critically acclaimed films before A Room with a View was released in 1985, but it was this popular film that made them art-house superstars. Splendidly adapted from the novel by E.M. Forster, it's a comedy of the heart, a passionate romance and a study of repression within the British class system of manners and mores. It's that system of rigid behavior that prevents young Lucy Honeychurch (Helena Bonham Carter) from accepting the loving advances of a free-spirited suitor (Julian Sands), who fears that she will follow through with her engagement to a priggish intellectual (Daniel Day-Lewis) whose capacity for passion is virtually nonexistent.... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Helena Bonham Carter Director(s): James Ivory DVD Release Date: Released the 06 April 2004 Usually ships in 24 hours
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